More than 25 Twin Cities restaurants to donate percentage of sales Tuesday to legal services for immigrants

Last year, a group of nearly 30 local restaurants gathered together and created a dine-and-donate event that raised $30,000 for the Immigrant Law Center.

This year, the same Restaurants Rising! collective is focusing their efforts – and their generosity – on the Florence Project, which provides free legal and social services to immigrants on the Mexico-U.S. border in Arizona.

“The issue of immigrants’ rights is really important to restaurants, in part, because this industry is largely staffed by immigrants,” said Danny Schwartzman, owner of Common Roots Cafe in Minneapolis. “Last year, we decided to stand up and be part of a group of restaurants. We didn’t plan this to be an annual fundraiser, our hope is that things would get better. But especially with family separations at the border and other egregious actions, we felt it was important to stand up again.”

Here’s how it works: dine on Tuesday in one of the venues listed below, and the ownership will donate a designated percentage of their sales to the effort. Some restrictions apply.

“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and ineffectual,” said Tracy Singleton, owner of the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis. “But this is something that people can do, this is a way that they can be part of making a difference.”

Can’t dine out today? Those interested in donating can text “families” to 844-544-7171.